GRA YLING. 25 



inches and sunk again ; every likely place being 

 thoroughly searched by means of this sinking 

 and drawing up. Grayling rise to a very large 

 number of flies, and in dressing his lines the 

 angler is guided by the flies which he sees the 

 fish are taking. In midwinter, when the Ephemerae 

 are absent, it is difficult to know what to try. 

 Iron-blue, claret and orange-bumbles, grey-palmer, 

 red-spinner, silver-dun, and Wickham are all 

 good flies ; though light and dark snipe, dotterel, 

 and hackles have often brought big fish to our 

 pannier. Hampshire fishermen seldom fish with 

 anything but dry-fly, whilst northern anglers are 

 partial to hackle-flies. In the rapid and broken 

 waters of northern streams, the latter represents 

 the appearance of a drowned fly far more truth- 

 fully than the upright-winged one of the dry- 

 fly fisher ; and on the smooth, deep waters of 

 the south, the dry-fly in turn counterfeits the 

 natural floating-fly better than a hackle would. 

 The practised angler, however, does not rely on 

 any hard-and-fast rule ; from the character of the 

 river, he sees at once what is best likely to serve 

 his purpose. He has no absurd prejudice, and 

 even condescends to use the worm when the 

 fish invite him to do so. In fly-fishing the cast 

 should be made across and slightly down-stream, 

 the rod point being brought round as the flies are 



